Stop, Look and Listen! A guide to walking the Witches path. Pt 2

 

Everything is a matter of perspective and intention. We each have a unique way of viewing the world and the people and things in it. How we view the world is not just a result of the nature/nurture influences. At some point in our lives the way we see the world becomes a CHOICE. What do you see? How do you see it? When did you see it? Why do you see it that way? In reflecting on those questions, one should also ask: How does what I see make my life better or worse? I am, of course, not speaking strictly of using your eyes but also using the mind, heart, and spirit. How do we learn to ‘see’.

Light bounces off an object and is reflected into our eyes. Our brains process that image through the vast array of objects we have been introduced to since birth and the brain then give us the corresponding definition of said object based on what we have been taught.  Okay, that is ridiculously simplified…but I think you get the idea. The balancing act comes in when what you ‘see’ isn’t part of what you know and can comprehend in the mundane world. On my path, I have learned that there are things I can see by using more than just my eyes. My comprehension of myself and the world expanded when I learned to see differently. The ‘Third Eye’ is a doorway, not just to energies and the outer world, but to our inner world. I have grown and learned more about myself when learning how to look through the Inner Eye of my spirit.

I never thought I could see auras and had always been terribly jealous of those who could. I would secretly stomp and huff puff when someone could describe colors of the rainbow, shining rings of glorious purple and white light, etc. Why couldn’t I do that? What was wrong with me? The only thing wrong was that I wasn’t ready for it. What I wanted at that time was to feel special, which I thought would happen if I could see auras. Then I could help other lost people like me who might clamor around like many others did when seeking out those teachers who could see auras. Many of those teachers would just tell me to try again and come back for another of their classes (not for free, of course) and in time, I would finally see auras. Well…..great. I’m gonna go broke trying to see auras!

Things changed unexpectedly with a woman I met strolling around a metaphysical shop. I was admiring tchotchkes, inhaling incense and looking through books on enhancing psychic abilities. There was no such thing as ‘Auras for Dummies’ so I looked through every book on the shelf. The woman was a little older than me and had a warm smile. ‘Can I help you?’ Nervously-as though I were suddenly being judged as unworthy-I explained that I was a ‘newbie’ and was looking for something straightforward and simple that might help me to see auras. The woman smiled at me and asked ‘Why do you think you can’t see them?’ I paused for a second and replied, ‘I-um, I don’t know. I guess I just don’t have the ability.’ The woman took my hand and said, ‘Of course you do. We all do. Your Third Eye is just starting to wake up, you just aren’t used to it yet.’

Duh. What? I asked her what she meant and she led me over to the glass counter. As I stood before the counter, she told me to put out my hand and close my eyes. I did what she said and she put something cool in my palm. ‘Don’t open your eyes to look at it. What color do you see?’ I became anxious, feeling like I was about to fail a test that would universally ban me from any metaphysical shops for the rest of my life! Gently I heard her say, ‘Take a deep breath and release it slowly. Trust what comes to you. What color do you see?’ In my mind I saw gradient hues and stuttered, ‘P-purple…’ When she told me to open my eyes, I looked first at her smiling face. When I looked into my hand, I was holding a small amethyst stone. I must have looked like a fish with my mouth open because she chuckled. She repeated this same exercise over and over with different stones. ‘The only reason you could not see before, was because you believed you could not. You didn’t trust yourself. The world is open to you now. You will see anything and everything. Most important, you will now see yourself in a new way in the world and you will grow stronger every day. I’m very happy for you.’ She didn’t charge me extra for that lesson. I paid for my books and left…stunned by the major shift in my perspective.

The world DID look different to me now. Don’t get me wrong…I wasn’t looking at the world as though there were lights coming off of everything with a radioactive glow. It was ME that was different. I was looking within and examining myself and my connections to life. The way I moved through the world had suddenly shifted and the energies around me sprang to life. I wanted to know more, feel more, SEE more. I wanted so much that it often felt overwhelming.  My ability to see energy and auras was colored by the world around me. At the time, I worked with mentally ill people and the chaos, pain, and fear that often colored their world was too much for me to bear. Many times, I shut down or shut off. I didn’t want to see more for a long time. I had some growing up to do. I still had much about myself that I needed to learn about and accept. Until I did, seeing the strands of energies that connected me to the world simply looked like a web of pain I could not escape.

That is a lesson to be learned every day; How do I interpret what I ‘see’? How do I use what I ‘see’ to move in the world? What can I do about what I ‘see’? The change in my vision has changed what kind of person I am. This is not exclusive to Witches, Wiccans or Pagans. Living any sort of spiritually centered life does that. To know this is to see how what we see and do acts like ripples on the water. It touches everyone…even if they do not ‘see’ it for themselves. We know that we see it, because we believe it…because we believe in ourselves. Difficulties become challenges. Walls of fear or anger become boundaries which lead to new paths. The smallest specks of light shine through the darkness. Insecurity becomes confidence and experience. Love…oh yes, love….love nurtures all life…new life, old life…it sustains the energy of love and expands the more we recognize it. Look around within yourself and around your world….what do you SEE?